500 Great Books By Women discussion

Once Friday finally officially hits, first up for me will have to be the first volume of Pilgrimage by Dorothy M. Richardson. I'm also eyeing Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya (can never just have one book going at a time).

I read one book at a time. It’s also crazy because tomorrow is Friday and with cooking I don’t have much time to read. I knew that so I’m going to read The Bean Eaters. Poetry collection of less than 100 pg and satisfies poetry square and a selection for my century challenge. Over the weekend I’m going to start on Tracks.

I always have multiple books going, and it takes me a long time to finish them. I'll be carrying over a couple I'm still working on, but I think the one I'll crack open first tomorrow is The House of Mirth. I could use it for 1900's, but will probably save it as an alternate, since it's on both the Guardian and Modern Library lists. (Love those Bingo alternates, Aubrey!)

Cheers, Kathleen. I originally came up with them to continue to emphasize the 'great books by women' part while giving people some wiggle room, and it seems to be working out.

Aubrey, I love book lists so those extra lists are much appreciated! Thank you!

Cheers, Annette. I like a good book list myself.

I really lucked out at my usual book sellback place this time around. Not only did I finally find a copy of the classic vampire lesbian short stories The Gilda Stories by Jewelle L. Gómez, it came with the text of its stage adaptation (a musical, no less). As I was still looking for a play for my Bingo, that's going right into my G4 category.

I'm halfway through Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
Next will be The Mistress of Husaby (aka The Wife), 2nd part of Kristin Lavransdatter.

Kathleen, hope you like The House of Mirth more than I did. She wrote well but kind of "dry" like Henry James.

George P. wrote: "I'm halfway through Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
Next will be The Mistress of Husaby (aka The Wife), 2nd part of Kristin Lavransdatter.

Kathleen, hope you like..."

Hi George! I did really enjoy The House of Mirth in the end. Opinions are all over the place, and I understand why, because I thought Part One was awfully boring. Part Two went much better for me though, and she got me with the ending, as she often does. :-)

I read The Mistress of Husaby last year, and plan to start the third book soon. Engrossing, isn't it? Hope you enjoy.

I've started How Long 'til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin, that I think I'll use for the Sci Fi category. My first of hers, and so far I love her writing. Short stories are often tough for me, but I'm liking these.

To clarify, any book on the group bookshelf can be used for the challenges? I'm planning to read Kitchen by Yoshimoto, but noticed that it's not in the https://www.listchallenges.com/500-gr....

George P. wrote: "To clarify, any book on the group bookshelf can be used for the challenges? I'm planning to read Kitchen by Yoshimoto, but noticed that it's not in the https://www.listchallenges.com/500-gr......"

Any book written by a woman can be used for the challenges, George. And if you like it well enough, you can submit it along with your review of it to make it into a member of the 500 GBBW supplement book list, as has been done with that particular work here: https://www.goodreads.com/comment/sho...

Aubrey wrote: "George P. wrote: "To clarify, any book on the group bookshelf can be used for the challenges? I'm planning to read Kitchen by Yoshimoto, but noticed that it's not in the https://www.listchallenges...."

Thanks for your prompt informative response Aubrey.

I don't usually tally my reading year statistically, but out of curiosity, I took a close look at 2020 (when I intentionally tried to read more women writers) and it looks like 44% of my reads were by female writers. I'm hoping to up that even more this year, which shouldn't be hard thanks to a lot of recent acquisitions and other as-yet-unread options on my shelves (many of which would probably fit into the challenges quite easily):
- Cold New Climate (Wohl)
- A Ghost in the Throat (Ghriofa)
- The Mermaid of Black Conch (Roffey)
- Nine Bar Blues (Thomas)
- Remote Control (Okorafor)
- Tainted Love PB (Chilvers)
- The End of the Alphabet (Rankine)
- The Blue Flower (Fitzgerald)
- White Teeth (Smith)
- The White Book (Kang)
- McGlue (Moshfegh)
- Frontier (Xue)
- EEG (Drndić)
- The Wallcreeper (Zink; I'm on a longterm mission to read everything put out by Dorothy Publishing)

Marc wrote: "I don't usually tally my reading year statistically, but out of curiosity, I took a close look at 2020 (when I intentionally tried to read more women writers) and it looks like 44% of my reads were..."

Nice stats, Marc. Feel free to explore the challenges and retroactively apply reads you've already finished this year, if you're craving some direction. The titles you've mentioned look like a lovely bunch for exploration.

That is good and helpful to know, Aubrey---thanks!

I finished Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (of Japan) a few days ago and am working on The Cross, the last book of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by by Sigrid Undset (of Norway).
I'm also now reading Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky (of France) and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (not on the official list but perhaps should be) and recently started the memoir of the Soviet gulags, Journey into the Whirlwind by Evgenia Ginzburg (of Russia). So women writers of the world is my current reading endeavor.
PS: Though Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea is not on the official 500 list, her After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie is.

My next 500 GBBW book for the challenge will be Chopin's The Awakening, which I have in my kindle.

Finished Journey into the Whirlwind so four done and 8 to go.
I just checked out a library ebook of Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara and received a copy of The House with the Blind Glass Windows by Herbjørg Wassmo for less than $5 incl shipping from Abebooks.

update 07/12: Now working on Gorilla, My Love by Bambara, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Lucy Bird and now Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame. Thanks to Philina for the tip on getting the audiobook on Librivox of "A Lady's Life...".
Also reading Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel, not one of my challenge books. I haven't gotten to The Awakening yet- next month.

I did read The Awakening, finished Sep 24th. Also have just finished Jane Goodall's Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe, which is in our bookshelf though not in the more official list. Both well worth reading, the latter more for people with biology or animal rights interests.
Haven't started The House with the Blind Glass Windows by Herbjørg Wassmo yet but it will be my next book.

I'm about to start Ottessa Moshfegh's "Eileen" and Jean Rhys's "Voyage in the Dark." Currently reading "The Essex Serpent" by Sarah Perry, and rereading "Secrets Beyond the Door" by Maria Tatar.

Kathleen wrote: "I always have multiple books going, and it takes me a long time to finish them. I'll be carrying over a couple I'm still working on, but I think the one I'll crack open first tomorrow is The ..."</i>

<i>Brina wrote: "I read one book at a time. It’s also crazy because tomorrow is Friday and with cooking I don’t have much time to read. I knew that so I’m going to read [book:The Bean Eaters. Poetry collec..."

House of Mirth is incredible!

I read sixteen books by women in 2022 out of sixty, so only about a quarter. I'm working on getting a higher proportion this year. None of those were on the GBBW list unfortunately, but eleven are on the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list, one was by a Nobel laureate (Olga Tokarzuk), one was a Man-Booker prize winner (Ghost Road) and one won the US National Book Award (In the Next Galaxy- poetry by Ruth Stone). Ten of the 16 were by non-US or UK authors. So I did get a pretty high-quality list with good international diversity.
So far this year, counting books I'm currently reading, 39% are by women authors and they include A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, a 500 GBBW book I liked very much and recommend. I have another 500 GBBW title on my schedule for a couple mos from now, Claudine's House by Colette. I checked out "The Complete Claudine" from the library thinking it was in there but it wasn't! So I read Claudine at School anyway.

Kathleen wrote: "I always have multiple books going, and it takes me a long time to finish them..."

I usually am reading 4 or 5 books at once and I thought that was probably odd. But I just read in Michelle Obama's book that Barack often has 7 going at once.

Just finished Willa Cather’s “Shadows on the Rock.” I takes you back to early Quebec City. Detailed and fascinating.

Just started Middlemarch by George Eliot. I've previously read her Silas Marner and The Mill on the Floss. I feel an affinity for writers who chose "George" for their penname (she and George Orwell). I'm also reading Quicksand by Nella Larsen which is on the group bookshelf.
In 2023 I read 74 books (counting one I've nearly finished) of which 25 were by women writers, so I did okay on reading women writers but could have read more. Claudine's House by Colette and The Radiant Way by Margaret Drabble were probably the most classic "Great Books by Women" of these.

hi! I’m new here!

I finished The Invisible Hour, and started my first VE Schwab book. I heard it wasn’t how she “normally writes”, so I figured I’d start there.
So far I’m really enjoying The Near Witch.

I hope to use Goodreads a lot more than in the past to keep track and find people that have the same likes for book recommendations. The last few recommendations have NOT been my cup of tea. Ha! Xx Cheers

Still working slowly on the long Middlemarch, but nearing the end. I have Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan coming up in a few weeks, which I'll need to go to the university library for.

I've just finished "The House of Mirth" by Edith Warton, published in 1904, and I'm utterly devastated. Lily Bart is one of the best, and most tragic, character I've ever met in my life.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...